Develop Reference

How to specify Custom Tab View without an image?

I have created a layout XML and called setCustomTabView in the right sequence and verified that it's pretty much as described here.
How can custom tab view be implemented using setCustomTabView method in SlidingTabColor sample?
I don't want an image. I only want to control the text size. I want the default on a small phone, but twice the size on a tablet. The default is very small on a tablet. The app is used outdoors and visibility and large buttons is important. I have two "buckets" so far. The following examples are for the default.
If I use this xml layout, I only see the text for the first tab, and no colorizer.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="match_parent">
<!-- Default sized TextView for tab title.
This allows us to specify a larger one for tablets in layout-w720dp. -->
<TextView
android:id="#+id/tab_title"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textStyle="bold"
android:textSize="18dp"/>
</LinearLayout>
If I add the xml for an image and provide a source, it works. If I leave out the source, the result is the same as for a layout with only a TextView.
<TextView
android:id="#+id/tab_title"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textStyle="bold"
android:textSize="18dp"/>
<ImageView
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:src="#drawable/ic_launcher"
android:layout_height="wrap_content" />
In one of my experiments I increased the text size (very large) and without an image I got all four tab titles.
How can I replicate the default tab titles with only a TextView?
(I had a working solution where I detected the metrics at run time and doubled the text size, but I want to control this through different layout subfolders.)
I see that the default tabView is a simple, instantiated TextView and tabTitleView is equated to it. If I could do a findViewByIdon the TextView within my layout I could do the same. But attempts to do that resulted in a null TextView - probably because a ViewGroup is not yet established. But if I use my layout the child already has a parent and can't be used in the tab strip's addView().

This worked.
<TextView
android:id="#+id/tab_title"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:textStyle="bold"
android:textSize="12sp"
android:gravity="center_vertical|center_horizontal"
android:padding="16dp" />
Using the debugger (and looking at the source where the default tabView is created) I saw that gravity was 0x800033 for my TextView and 0x000011 for theirs. Changing the android:gravity and adding the same padding as the default fixed it. I think center would also work. It's an alias for vertical|horizontal (1<<4|1<<0).
I also called setAllCaps(true) on the tabTitleView for consistency.

Sherlock Actionbar custom design

I will be very thankfull if anyone will help me find out some details about customizing sherlock actionbar.
To be more concrete: I need an action bar with four buttons. Two small buttons on the sides of the bar (on on the left side and second on the right), and one "paired" radiobutton in the middle of the bar.
When I say "paired" I mean something like in iOS when there are two buttons positioned near each other and when I press one - the second is unpressed and vice versa.
All in all it should look like this.
Is it even possible to make this or I should forget about using the wonderful sherlock creature?

I would personally abandon the idea of using ActionBarSherlock and instead just implement this using your own layout resource.
As a user of ActionBarSherlock I can say it's a fantastic library, as it essentially allows you to use the ActionBar API across all devices, including pre-Honeycomb, meaning you don't have to code a separate UI to suit pre-Honeycomb device. But the point of ActionBarSherlock is that it just provides APIs that are equivalent to those of the native ActionBar. And the problem is that the ActionBar is restrictive in what you can creatively do with it, because it is designed to offer specific functionality and controls that kind of fit around how Google want you to implement your UI. In a nutshell, you can specify a custom layout View that appears somewhere within the bar. You can also control which menu items appear as action items placed on the right-hand side of the bar (though it is ultimately still up to the system, based on screen space, if such items are made visible on the bar). The bar also allows you to implement some very special functionality (Action Views, Action Providers, etc.)
But if you're looking to create a very customised layout like the one you've pictured, and you don't need the special functionality that the ActionBar (or ActionBarSherlock) provides, then you might be better off doing it from scratch.

Yes you can make your Sherlock ActionBar like you show above. you have to set custom View to your SherLock ActionBAr. Just few lines of code
getSupportActionBar()
.setDisplayShowCustomEnabled(true);
getSupportActionBar().setCustomView(
R.layout.your_custom_layout);
and you custom layout should be RelativeLayout something like this
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="match_parent"
android:layout_height="72dp" >
<ImageButton
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:src="#drawable/icon" />
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_centerInParent="true" >
<ImageButton
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:src="#drawable/icon" />
<ImageButton
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="match_parent"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:src="#drawable/icon" />
</LinearLayout>
<ImageButton
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:src="#drawable/icon" />
</RelativeLayout>

Android 4.0 Tabbed Activity Layout

I have 2-3 Activities in my app that all share data in a memory pool. I want to be able to easily switch between these activities while keeping them all simultaneously running. In addition, I am developing for Android 4.0. I would like to use TabActivity, but it has been deprecated and replaced with ActionBar, which I have tried but I don't think it's what I'm looking for. I want large tabs, similar to the classic "Artist/Playlist/All" tabs found in the stock Android Music Application, or like the Tab Bar seen at the bottom of the screenshot below. Does anyone know of a library to create these tabs or a way to make ActionBar more customizable? Or is using TabActivity a perfectly good solution, even on ICS devices?

ActionBar is what you're looking for, actually.
You should convert your Activites to Fragments. Assuming they're not too complex, this shouldn't be hard at all. There are tons of examples out there. You need one Activity, preferably a FragmentActivity, to hold all of them.
This should help:
http://arvid-g.de/12/android-4-actionbar-with-tabs-example

There are several subquestions to this, I'll try to address them all:
-In order to use the top tabs, you want to use an ActionBar.
-If you were to do it in the style of the music app, where you swipe sideways between views and the label of the current one is always front and center... For that, the class you'd want to use is called ViewPager
You can see all of these methods by creating a new Activity in eclipse, and going through the wizard. Under "Navigation Type" you can select "Tabs", "Tabs + Swipe", "Swipe Views + Title Strip". Create any one of those Activities to see how it looks, and then look at the code to see how it's implemented & how to customize it.
-Navigation along the bottom is discouraged- See the Android Design Guide, spec the section "Don't use Bottom Tab Bars"

You have probably found an answer by now, but I thought I'll share another way you could create something like that tab bar using images and xml:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RelativeLayout
xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:orientation="vertical"
android:id="#+id/main">
<LinearLayout
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:orientation="horizontal"
android:background="#drawable/tabackground"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
android:id="#+id/llBottom">
<ImageButton
android:src="#drawable/icon2"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#00000000"
/>
<ImageButton
android:src="#drawable/icon3"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#00000000"
/>
<ImageButton
android:src="#drawable/icon4"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#00000000"
/>
<ImageButton
android:src="#drawable/icon5"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:background="#00000000"
/>
</LinearLayout>
<ImageView
android:layout_height="24dp"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_alignTop="#+id/llBottom"
android:background="#10ffffff"/>
<ImageView
android:layout_height="1dp"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_alignTop="#+id/llBottom"
android:background="#30ffffff"/>
</RelativeLayout>
Is not perfect but with some creativity and changing some values it can look very good.
Hope it helps in some way.

how to make a View tranparent to see background statusbar in Android

i have created an app which has a TextView which contain some text.
i made it transparent by this code
<TextView xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
android:id="#+id/Label"
android:layout_width="fill_parent"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:text="Credit Balance 52$"
android:background = "#00000000"
/>
i want my application to be full screen but at the same time user will be able to see device statusbar behind TextView at top.
Please suggest me some solution of this problem.
Thanks

try using android.R.style.Theme_Translucent theme for your activity

Is there a view for a button bar? (Image link describing the view)

I am looking for a view or some sort of information regarding the bottom bar in default applications of Android such as Email, or Unlock pattern as shown in the picture below. I have not been able find anything about this on Androids site nor from Google searches.
Image: http://img11.imageshack.us/i/viewdn.jpg/

I believe that Christopher is correct; there is no special widget to create the bar in your image. However, if you want to emulate it, you can create a layout and use the style style="#android:style/ButtonBar". That will give you the light gray background and the correct margins.

I don't believe there's any standard view for the button bar used at the bottom of these apps; it's generally just two Button items placed together in a LinearLayout or RelativeLayout.
For example, looking at the Android Open Source Project, you can see the button bar for one of the email app setup screens is defined as two plain old Button objects.
However, it is surprising that Google didn't abstract more of the common stuff into an Android theme or sublayout, rather than having the same views and attributes in each layout XML.

From: http://code.google.com/p/k9mail/source/browse/k9mail/trunk/res/layout/account_setup_basics.xml?r=1314
<RelativeLayout
android:layout_marginTop="-45dip"
android:padding="0dip"
android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
android:gravity="bottom|right"
android:background="#android:drawable/bottom_bar"
android:layout_height="fill_parent"
android:layout_width="fill_parent">
<Button
android:id="#+id/manual_setup"
android:text="#string/account_setup_basics_manual_setup_action"
android:minWidth="#dimen/button_minWidth"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:layout_marginBottom="-4dip"
android:layout_alignParentLeft="true"
android:layout_centerVertical="false"
/>
<Button
android:id="#+id/next"
android:text="#string/next_action"
android:minWidth="#dimen/button_minWidth"
android:layout_height="wrap_content"
android:layout_width="wrap_content"
android:drawableRight="#drawable/button_indicator_next"
android:layout_marginBottom="-4dip"
android:layout_alignParentRight="true"
android:layout_centerVertical="false"
/>
</RelativeLayout>